Ditcher.



w. w. Jonas,

manna. APPLIGATIOI FILED APE-18. 1912.

Patented Feb. 24, 19M a annnmwmsm 2.

W. W. JONES.

DITGHER.

. APPLICATION FILED APR 13, 1912. 3 5 4 Patented Feb.24,1914 3SHEETS-SHEET B. w 3 s a WILLIAM "W. JONES, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO.

IDITCHER.

incense.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Application filed April 13, 1912. Serial No. 690,538.

' mum weight and one requiring a minimum of power to operate it; and tothis end the invention consists in certain improved constructions,arrangements and combinations of devices, which will be more fullydescribed hereinafter, and'then. pointed out in the claims.

Other objects will appear and be better understood from that embodimentof my invention of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which:

Figure, l is a plan of the invention. Fig.

2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3IS a vertical cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. :2. Fig. 4 is adetail of a portion of the excavating mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detailperspective of the sections of the excavating tool or digger.

The machine forming the subject matter of the present invention isintended chiefly for operating in soft soil, particularly swampy soil,such as is invariably found on reclaimed swamp. In operating with aditcher on the last-named kind of land, it has, in most instances, beencustomary to employ the ditchers which are constructed primarily for usein soft but high land. This employment has resulted in many ditlicultiesto those engaged in the work, and among the number existed that ofpreventing the machine from sinking in the land.

Since this tendency of the machine to sink was produced by itsrelatively great weight, the latter being due not only to themassiveness and relatively great number of parts used, but also to theirdisposition which was such as to require for the operation, a relativelylarge and heavy motor, many contrivances were put forth having for theirobject to prevent the sinking of the machine increasing the area of thebearing surface thereof. While the employment of hose devices renderedthe machine more buoyant, they, nevertheless, made it more cumbersome tohandle, and the expense of installing them was, in many instances, amatter of no small moment. ith their employment, however, certain factsstill remained and among these were the complexity of the machine andthe relatively great amount of power needed to operate the diggingmechanism so as to lift the saturated soil. Experience in the handlingof this soil shows that it offers comparatively no re sistance topenetration for a distance equal to the depth of the ordinary ditch ordrain. But a slice of about a foot in thickness and three feet inlength, ofi'ers material resistance to the implement employed to hit itand when such implement is a digger, it is at once manifest that agreater amount of power is required to lift such a slice than a slice ofcorresponding size but of dry soil. Therefore, in carrying out onefeature of the present invention it is my aim to abandon the old idea ofhaving the digger elevate the material and to call for no other functionfrom this element than that of penetrating the soil to the requireddepth and moving the sliced soil laterally, but to no appreciabledistance upwardly.

In passing it may be stated that the ditch formed with the old type ofdigger had vertical side walls which for obvious reasons, are useless inditches made in swampy lands. Thus, the side walls of the ditch formedwith the old typeof digger had to be slanted or beveled by hand byworkmen following the ditcher. This proceeding while essential, wasnevertheless, expensive in that it involved the employment of a numberof men. Therefore,-in carrying out another feature of my invention ithas been my aim to eliminate the retreating of the sides of the ditch bymanual labor and in this I have succeeded by substituting for the oldone piece digger, one made up of a plurality of sections which enter theground from different points and which meet at the bottom of the ditchand interlock into a unitary structure after having out a substantiallywedge-shaped slice.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings I suspend anapron of metal or other suitable material and of suitable contour suchas rectangular, from a shaft 6 which is arranged in suitable bearings 77at the upper ends of uprights 88 and in a bearing 9 carried by theupright por- Patented Feb. 24-, 1914.. I

tion of a bracket 10 connected to one of the uprights 8.

The supporting frame 11, to the forward end ortion of which the uprights8-8 are suita ly secured, may be formed of any desirable material suchas angle iron and be of any suitable marginal contour and size. Theframe is provided at its front end with -a suitable pilot wheel 12 whichis operated to control the direction of progressive movement of themachine by a steering wheel 13 carried by a shaft 14which has a bevelgear 15 meshing with a rack 16 on the yoke 17 in which the wheel 12 isfitted, and which is j ournaled as indicated at 19, in the front end ofthe frame 11. The rear end portion of the machine is supported bysuitable apron tractions 20-20 which are connected to telescoping shafts21 and 22, the latter of which is free to rotate on the inner. Theshafts 21 and 22 are suitably connected such as by chain and sprocketconneqtions 2323 to sleeves 24-24 loose upon a shaft 25 which issuitably connected such as" by chain and sprocket connections 26, to ashaft 27 carried' by the forward portion of the frame 11.

.A suitable connect-ion such as by means of bevel gears 28, isestablished between the shaft 27 and reversing gears 2929- carried by asleeve 30 splined on a shaft 31 which is connected by suitable meanssuch as chain and sprocket connections 32, with the crank shaft 33 of amotor 34 of a type suitable for the necessary movement. WVith the partspositioned as shown in Fig. 1 and the motor turning in the requireddirection, the ma chine willprogress to the right in the said figure anduntil the reversing lever 35 is shifted so as to cause the gear wheel 29shown out of mesh in Fig. 1, to mesh with one of the gear wheels 28,whereupon the machine will move in the opposite direction. To facilitatethe turning of the machine either to the right or to the left, Iunclutch one of the clutches 36-36 splined on the shaft 25, from one ofthe sleeves 24. This is done by turning one of the hand wheels 3737 atthe forward end of the machine and within easy reach of the operator whois positioned on the platform 38, it being understood that the steeringwheels are so connected to the clutches as to reciprocate the same intoand out of engagement with As the machine progresses the apron 5 whichis loose on the shaft 6, is oscillated by suitable mechanism such as aneccentric digger, to describe an arc in the ground as indicated in Fig.2. Since the lower end of the cutting arc is at the bottom of the ditch,it will be manifest that as the apron moves toward'that end of its arcof movement farthest from the front of the ma- ..chine, the-slice cut bythe digger will be shoved rearwardly and onto the elevator I). Since theinvention does not reside in the particular means for oscillating theapron and operating the digger, it will be understood that thedescriptions of such means for operating the apron and that about tofollow for operating the digger, are simply illustrative.

The intermediate section 42 has a shank in the form of a rack 43 whichis mounted to slide in a vertical guide 44 in the apron 5, while theside or end sections 45 and 46 have obliquely extending shanks in theformof racks 4747 which are mounted to slide in oblique guides 48-48 onthe apron 5. The inclination or the obliquity of the shanks 47-47 andguides 48-48 is such as to cause the sections 45 and 46 during thedownward movement of the digger, to move for certain distances into thepath of movement of the intermediate section 42. This movement of thesections 45 and 46 into the path of the intermediate section 42, isgradual and'begins a trifle before the cutter completes its downwardmovement when the side portions 0 and (Z of the sections 45 and 46 beginto enter the mortises 50-50 made to receive them in the intermediatesection and thus continue to move into the mortises until the end ofthe'downward movement of the cutter, at which time the-sections 45 and46 will be interlocked with the intermediate section, as shown. in Fig.4. T he portions 6 and f of the sections 45 46 are arranged in angularrelation to the portionsc and (Z and while the latter are'cutting in thesame direction as the intermediate section 42and also at an angle to thesaid section, the secticns c and f are cutting so' as to form thesloping banks of the ditch and cooperating with the intermediate sectionand portions 0 and (Z to block out a shoe of earth.

The pinions 51 are loose on the shaft-6 the laterals 7272.

possess \Vhen the collars 55 are unclutched from the pinions 51, thedigger may be operated manually by turning a hand wheel 58 on one end ofthe shaft 52. When the collars are clutched with the pinions 51 as shownin Fig. 4, and the shaft 6 caused to rotate in one direction, the diggerwill be elevated or lowered depending on the direction in which theshaft 6 rotates. Inasmuch as it is essential to reciprocate the diggerand have each stroke thereof of a length somewhat greater than the depthof the ditch, I provide means adapted for rotating the shaft 6 for apredetermined number of revolutions in one direction and then.automatically reversing the movement of the shaft and causing it torotate for the same number of revolutions or approximately so, in theopposite directions.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 1 the opposed bevel gears 5959 on the shaft6, are arranged so as to mesh successively with the teeth of a mutilatedbevel gear Wheel 60 fast on a stub shaft 61 journaled in a bearing inthe bracket 10 and in a bearing 62 on one of the uprights 8. The bevelgear 63 fast on the lower end of the stub shaft 61, extends between thebevel gears 641-434 on a sleeve (35 splined on the shaft 31. The sleeve65 is operated by suitable reversing mechanism 60 so as to cause eitherof the gears (i l to mesh with the gear 63. By providing the mechanismfor reversing the shaft 61 the digger upon coming into contact with alog or other obstruction under the surface of the soil, may be readilylifted or its action may be stopped by so moving the gears 64 as not tomesh with the gear The slice cut by the digger is deposited on the lowerend of the endless apron 67.

which is located between the sides 6868 of the conveyer frame, whichsides flare out-- wardly as shown in liig. 1, to conform to the slant ofthe banks of the ditch. The lower end of the apron 67 passes over a roll69 and its upper end over rolls 70 and 71. The position of the rolls 70and 71 are such as to give a downward inclination to the upper endportion of theconveycr, whereby, the material may be convenientlydischarged on The conveyer 67 has sprocket chains 7373 which pass oversprocket wheels 7 1 on the lower roll 69 and sprocket wheels 75 and 76on the upper rolls 70 and 71. Through the employment of suitable meanssuch as a sprocket 77 on the shaft 24, a sprocket chain 78 and asprocket wheel 79 on the shaft 80 journaled in bearings in the uprightsS181 which support the conveying mechanism, motion is transmitted to thesaid shaft 80 and from thence by suitable mechanism such as a sprocket82, a sprocket chain 83, a sprocket wheel 84 on a shaft 85 in hearingsin the upper ends of the uprights 81, to the said shaft 85 which hasfast upon it a spur gear 86 meshin with a spur gear 87 on the roll 70.The rolls 88-88 at the upper ends of the laterals 72 are connected bymeshing spur gears 89-89 fast on the rolls and the lower roll 90 of oneof the laterals carries a bevel pinion 91 which meshes with a bevelpinion 92 on one endof the shaft 80.

The sides (38-68 of the conveyer, pivot on the shaft, 70 and a cross bar93 which passes through said side also passes through lugs havinginclined slots one of which is shown in Fig. 2 and indicated by 94. Ashoe 95 at the lower end-of the conveyer is sharpened so as to enable itto readily pass through the soil and also has a curved surface in thearc of swing of the digger. This enables the digger to swing over theshoe and deposit the slice on the conveyer b.

What I claim as new is: I 1. A digger for traction ditchers comprising acentral section, endsections normally spaced from the central sectionand adapted to coiiperate therewith to complete the digger, independentmeans for supporting the respective sections, and means for operatingthe supporting means, the supporting means of the end sections operatingat an angle to the supporting means of the central section, the angle ofoperation of the end section supporting means with relation to thecentral section supporting means moving said end and central sectionsinto digger forming cooperation prior to the limit of movement of all ofthe said supporting means toward digging position.

2. A digger for traction ditchers comprising a central section, endsections having cutters arranged at right angles to the central section,a frame, a supporting bar for each of said sections, and means carriedby the frame for guiding the supporting bars of the end sections at anangle to the plane of movement of the supporting bar of the centralsection.

3. A digger for traction ditchers including a frame, a diggercoi'nprising a central section and end sections arranged. to cooperatewith the central section to. complete the digger, a supporting barcarried by each of said central and end sections, and guiding meanscarried by the frame for each of said supporting bars, the guiding meansfor the supporting bars of the end sections converging downwardly towardthe guiding means for the supporting bar of the central section.

for the supporting bar of the central section,

the central and end sections being moved from a spaced relation to adigger forming cooperation during the operative movement of the diggeras a Whole.

5. A digger for tract-ion ditchers including a frame, adlgger'comprlsing a central sec tion and end sections arranged tocooperate with the central section to completethe digger, a supportingbar carried by each of said central and end sections, and guiding meanscarried by the frame for each of said supporting bars, the guiding meansfor the supporting bars of the end sections converging downwardlytoward. the guiding means for the supporting bar of the central section,and means for simultaneously and uniformly reciprocating said supportingbars in the guiding means.

6. A digger for traction ditchers including a frame, a digger comprisinga central section and end sections arrangec to cooperate with thecentral section to complete the digger, a supporting bar carried by eachof said central and end sections,'and guiding means carried by the framefor each of said supporting bars, the guiding means for the supportingbars of the end sections converging downwardly toward the guiding meansfor the supporting bar of-the centraL'section, means for simultaneouslyand uniformly reciprocating said supporting bars inthe guiding means,and means for imparting movement to the frame during the reciprocationof the supporting bars.

7. A digger for traction ditchers including a frame, a digger comprisinga central section and end sections arranged to cooperate with thecentral section to complete the digger, asupporting bar carried by eachof said central and end sections, and guiding means carried-by the framefor each of said sup porting bars, the guiding means for the sup portingbars of the end sections converging downwardly toward the guiding meansfor the supporting bar of the central section, means for simultaneouslyand uniformly reciprocating said supporting bars in the guiding means,and means for imparting a swinging movement to the frame during thereciprocation of the supporting bars. 1

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM. W. JONES.

Witnesses: CHAS. V'TYAIT, S. LBnnennr.

